Disney adds rides in Hong Kong park

Critics say the theme park just hasn't clicked yet with its Chinese visitors.

February 28, 2006|By Kelvin Wong, Bloomberg News

Walt Disney Co. will introduce three attractions at its Hong Kong theme park this summer and said its performance during May's "golden week holiday" in China will show whether it has regained the public's confidence.

The three attractions include a game based on cartoon character Stitch, a new interactive water ride, and Autopia, in which riders drive small model cars around a track, park managing director Bill Ernest said Monday.

Public dissatisfaction over the park's management heightened during the Lunar New Year holiday when lawmakers criticized Disneyland for underestimating the number of tourists from China. Many ticket holders were turned away from the park after Disneyland said it had reached capacity.

Disney will adjust the park's ticketing system after many people endured long lines during the holiday, which fell on the last week of January and the first two weeks of February.

Hong Kong legislators also have accused the park, which opened in September, of failing to understand the habits and culture of local and mainland Chinese.

"We have spent a lot of time to address many questions," said Ernest, adding the best way to show the park has learned its lesson "is to have a successful May."

The park's management will closely monitor the situation during the one-week labor day holiday in May, when thousands of mainland tourists are expected to visit the city, he said.

A spokeswoman for Hong Kong Disney, Esther Wong, would not say how much was being spent to construct the three attractions.

Wong said the Hong Kong government is expected to finish reclaiming land by 2008 for the construction of the second phase of the park, which now covers 310 acres.

Ernest said the park will not ask for additional investment from the Hong Kong government for the expansion. Disney spent $314 million for its 43 percent stake in Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island, its first park in China.

The Hong Kong's government, which owns the remainder, paid $2.4 billion for the park's construction, according to official figures.